Singapore – George’s seven-year-old daughter was terrified of her mother, who yelled at her almost daily for three months over mistakes both big and small after the girl started primary school.
For example, once, when the girl could not spell a word, her mother hurled vulgarities, called her names and threatened to stab her in the eye. She also told the girl to kill herself.
“She loses her temper very easily and takes it out on my daughter,” George (not his real name), a businessman in his 50s, told The Straits Times.
“The scolding is extremely excessive and it affects everyone in the house. The emotional abuse is relentless.”
The shouting was so bad that neighbours once called the authorities, resulting in a social worker’s visit to the family.
Shocked by the visit, George planted an audio recording device at home to find out just how bad the scoldings were.
A psychologist he consulted warned him about the potential long-term harm such behaviour could inflict on his daughter. The psychologist also advised him to seek legal advice, which he did.
In late 2025, George, who had submitted audio recordings of his wife’s behaviour as evidence to the Family Justice Courts, was granted a personal protection order (PPO) for his daughter against his wife. This is a court order that restrains a person from committing family violence.
He applied for the PPO after the Women’s Charter (Family Violence and Other Matters) (Amendment) Bill amended the Women’s Charter to expand the definition of family violence to include emotional, psychological or sexual abuse, and this took effect in January 2025.
His case is among roughly one in three, or 32 per cent, of the 1,484 PPOs issued in 2025 that cited only emotional or psychological abuse, according to data the Singapore courts gave ST.
In one case in December 2025, a
woman’s application for a PPO was dismissed
